Changing the Warped Image of Leadership
“When everyone goes right, I choose to go left”, Marjolein said in our conversation, post BHX Kashmir. Hailing from Holland, she has travelled the world and worked with some of the biggest companies out there.
After graduating at the top of her class in Fashion Management, she had already started managing a team of 10 at the age of 24. There was no looking back after that.
All of these experiences led her to work with the Tata Group, where she set up their brand Zudio from scratch and played a pivotal role in its growth.
“When you’re a leader and working with a large team, there are a few essential things you must keep in mind.”
“You’ll have a million ideas running through your head all the time, but it’s important not to project them helter-skelter. Write down your top 3 priorities and communicate them clearly to your team. It’s imperative that you keep processes simple and not complicated,” M, as she asked us to call her, told us was one of the founding principles of her success.
A few other key things that really stayed with us were — “Leaders must celebrate successes with every small goal that they achieve with their teams. It keeps them motivated.” Leaders aren’t supposed to direct, they have to create an inclusive environment of trust and inspiration.”
To be an authentic leader is one who allows their team to work on themselves — towards a journey of personal and professional success.
This ideology of hers led her to draw parallels between how personal growth is so similar and interlinked with professional and business growth.
At the edition, she held a workshop about spirituality in business for everyone to address crucial questions.
The first one was: “Who are you? What are your values that will dictate your choices and behaviour?” Asking ourselves these tough questions makes us realise the real reasons behind what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
What comes next is: “What are the needs and wants we have in order to live up to those values?.” Once we know that, we can set realistic goals and achieve them.
Businesses typically set goals first, allocate resources to achieve those goals and forget to ask the real question of what their values are and how they are different from their competitors that sets them apart.
At the core of the business, lies the value system: why they started the venture. It has to do with something more than just money, as it probes deeper into the larger vision of the business. For some, it may be causing social change by empowering rural communities or creating products that will reduce waste in the fashion industry.
She held a workshop at the edition showing us a new perspective on how to run businesses: through spirituality.
M shared with us, “I’ve reached a point where I will change course soon and have a new aim in life. I want to help businesses with this framework and create an impact. I’ve been a leader all my life, and what I’ve been doing all this while is coaching and mentoring people. I want to continue doing that.”
Her next chapter involves sharing insights, knowledge and experience as a way of giving back to society and is open to mentoring entrepreneurs to live up to their best potential.